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FGs not enough for Lady Marauders

By Rick Weaver

For The Mirror

BLAIRSVILLE — Bishop Guilfoyle’s ending was all fouled up.

The Lady Marauders held a 19-11 edge in field goals in their District 6 Class A quarterfinal-round girls basketball game against Blairsville. The Lady Bobcats connected on 32-of-44 free throws, however, and came away with a 55-49 victory on Thursday night.

Blairsville will play Juniata Valley in the semifinals next week.

Kristi Kaack finished her first season at the Bishop Guilfoyle helm with a 12-10 record. The Lady Marauders started three sophomores, one freshman and junior Jamison Consiglio.

“I thought they were amazing. They lost four seniors last year that played a lot of minutes. And we’re playing with an extremely young group,” she said. “And they wanted to learn. They’re (like) sponges. So every challenge that I gave them they rose to. And I think with a little bit more experience and a little bit more season next year, then you’ll see a little bit of a different basketball team.”

Blairsville attempted to dictate the tempo and wear down the younger Lady Marauders from the opening tip.

“We wanted to spread the floor, keep it as wide as we could,” Blairsville coach Ricc Brown said.

The Lady Bobcats also threw a 2-3 zone defense at the Bishop Guilfoyle and tried to take away inside feeds to Consiglio. The junior pivot managed only three points (1-of-6 at the free-throw line).

The Lady Marauders missed their first nine shots before Aurielle Brunner put her team on the scoreboard at 11-3.

“I think we took ourselves out of position on the defensive end,” Kaack said. “And then a couple of shots didn’t go our way early. And we were hanging our heads about that, rather than upping the intensity on the defensive end.”

“We wanted to take them out of corner shots,” Brown said.

Brunner’s only basket ignited a 7-0 run that drew Bishop Guilfoyle within 11-8 late in the first period.

Blairsville then made good on 15-of-20 free throws without the added benefit of a field goal made in the second quarter as it assumed a 30-25 lead at the intermission. Sidney McCully, who led all scorers with 24 points, made 9-of-10 by herself at the free throw line in the second period.

Leah Homan hit a pair of free throws at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter to draw Bishop Guilfoyle to within two, 33-31. The Lady Marauders never pulled closer than four the rest of the way, however.

Blairsville saw to that early in the fourth period when it played a deliberate style that prompted some Lady Marauders fans to yell, “Boring!” The ploy worked in the Lady Bobcats’ favor, however, as they forced Bishop Guilfoyle to foul and send Blairsville to the free-throw line.

“We looked at the (team) fouls and it was six for us and only two for them. So I knew it would take a little while to get to the foul line,” Brown said. “But we knew speed-wise we just had to run clock.”

“I was impressed with the way that our girls accepted the challenge,” Kaack said. “They were all over the floor. They were everywhere. They were dead after every possession.”

Teresa Haigh led Bishop Guilfoyle with 17 points, followed by Homan (12).

Bishop Guilfoyle (49): Consiglio 1 1-6 3, Warner 0 1-2 1, Homan 5 2-2 12, Scipioni 4 0-0 9, Haigh 6 2-2 17, Brunner 1 1-5 3, Krug 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 7-17 49.

Blairsville (55): Potter 2 5-6 9, Walbeck 0 5-10 5, Potts 2 3-4 7, McCully 4 15-18 24, Risinger 3 2-4 8, Whitfield 0 2-2 2, Pynos 0 0-0 0, Emanuel 0 0-0 0. Totals — 11 32-44 55.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

Bishop Guilfoyle 8 17 8 16 — 49

Blairsville 15 15 11 14 — 55

3-point field goals: Bishop Guilfoyle 4 (Haigh 3, Scipioni), Blairsville 1 (McCully).

Officials: Dave Diebert, Don Buchotam, Gary Puto.

Team records: Bishop Guilfoyle (12-10), Blairsville (20-4).

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